This blog explores both historical and current events guided by the thought of the leading thinkers, past and present, of this school or movement of theology. Refer to the Classic Posts, Great and Contemporary Thinkers, various links of all kinds, in addition to the Archives themselves. David is the founder and manager of this website, but many friends contribute to it on a regular basis.

Twitter @ressourcementTwitter @ltdan4123

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Book Review: Danny Gospel

Thanks to David Athey for sending me a review copy of his book, Danny Gospel.

Genre:In terms of genre, Danny Gospel is not a novel, but a comic romance, a commedia. The romances that come to mind when I read this are Confederacy of Dunces (Toole), Wise Blood (O'Connor), The Last Gentleman (Percy), Invisible Man (Ellison), and Song of Solomon (Morrison). In fact, the story has a couple of hat tips in the direction of Wise Blood. I like romances, but my wife Karen doesn't, and she can smell them a good ways off. Romances are episodic and multi-climactic, and comic romances have a bit of coarseness: e.g. Dante's flatterers swimming in a river of shit. In general, romances end with marriages and reunions and reconciliations (think of Charles Dickens). Novels, on the other hand, mainly build toward a big climax at the end, even if they have a minor climax or two early on. Novels typically end with a dramatic resolution of the main conflict — for better or worse. I suspect the more negative reviews that this heartbreaking book have received are due in one way or another to the reader's unfamiliarity with commedia, or at least a preference for novels rather than commedias.

Synopsis:Danny Gospel is one of the last survivors of the Gospel Family, a family musical group. He lives in Iowa in a trailer park, having lost everyone and everything except his brother. His ex-fiance left him to return to her birthplace in New York. She had called him every year, but didn't this year. One day, Danny receives a kiss from a woman in white who disappears, setting Danny on a quest to find her again. Along the way, Danny grapples with his past and with the beautiful, haunted world.

Response:Although I was a bit skeptical, this book won me over quickly, causing me to care about Danny and the other characters and investing myself in their struggles. I read earnestly, finishing the book in three days on September 11th, and then reading it again right away. The story is well constructed with beautiful description, good pacing, and a coherent plot. For those who may be confused about the ending, I recommend reading Chapter One again. Everything should fall right into place.

I would also note: a novel about a "holy fool," a Dan Quixote, necessarily presents a problematic understanding of faith, which doesn't do justice to the "grandeur of reason." The task of a reviewer, however, is to evaluate how well a book accomplishes its aim, and not to argue that a different story should have been written. I'm saving the argument for next week.